Medieval 'wine windows' are being used again in Italy due to Covid

Image: Facebook/buchettedelvino

Every house needs one of these.

A centuries old tradition is starting to make a stamp in Italy once again amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wine windows, which were used during the extremely deadly bubonic plague, have started to make a reemergence after being staying unused since the 1600s, the New York Post reports.

The bubonic plague or “black death,” is estimated to have killed at least one-third of Europe's population after originating in Asia.

And back then, like today, social distancing measures were implemented to stop the spread of the disease - which in turn led to these wine windows popping up.

And as we're all painfully aware, there's now a reason they can be used once again...

The “wine windows,” are exactly as they sound: small windows built into the side of wineries and shops so people can continue to get a drink at a safe distance.

“Everyone is confined to home for two months and then the government permits a gradual reopening,” the Wine Window Association website reads.

“During this time, some enterprising Florentine Wine Window owners have turned back the clock and are using their Wine Windows to dispense glasses of wine, cups of coffee, drinks, sandwiches and ice cream — all germ-free, contactless!”

Matteo Faglia, president of the Wine Window Association, told Insider, “People could knock on the little wooden shutters and have their bottles filled direct from the Antinori, Frescobaldi and Ricasoli families, who still produce some of Italy’s best-known wine today.”

More than 150 wine windows lay within Florence’s walled city, with more spread around the Tuscan region.

“The wine windows gradually became defunct, and many wooden ones were permanently lost in the floods of 1966,” said Faglia, whose historical association has begun the process of mapping these forgotten, and sometimes vandalised, relics throughout Italy’s wine country, marking them with a plaque to designate their import and authenticity.

“We want to put a plaque by all the wine windows, as people tend to respect them more when they understand what they are and their history,” he said.